There has been a lot of research in to the profitability of repeat business. It is said that customers who return to make another order are, on average, worth 5 times more profit than an order from a new customer. This is because it will generally cost you nothing to get an existing customer to make another purchase, but always attracting new customers costs you money in advertising and promotions, as well as time. If your business has a low rate of returning customers, it can struggle to stay afloat, because you constantly need to keep finding new customers in order to turn a profit.

By creating a sense of loyalty in your customers, you can solve this problem. A loyal customer will not only return to buy from you often, they will also spread a good reputation about your business through positive word-of-mouth, bringing in even more sales.

My promotional t-shirt printing business targets Australian rock bands, who in my opinion are the second biggest networkers (after mothers!). They share everything with each other, because bands like to help other bands. I once had a situation where an order for 100 printed tees was late, so I quickly organized an employee to jump on a plane and fly the package out to my customer in the next city. Yes, it cost me more than the profit I made - but I made my customer’s day! They had a very important gig that night.

As well as helping these guys out because it was the right thing to do, it was also important for me to consider the lifetime value of the customer. The real cost at stake here, had I lost their business, was not only the purchases that they will make in the future (currently about 2 per year, growing consecutively)
but also the damage that could have been caused to my brand’s reputation. A poor reputation can mean a rapid decline in sales and even has the potential to destroy your business.

Your customers are invaluable - treat them like rock stars. This one truth has the power to turn your business into a thriving multi-million dollar company - a customer-focused company.

Hi! My name is Heath Sanchez. Since 2002, I’ve been using the marketing power of the Internet to successfully launch and grow three online businesses. Throughout the years of studying Marketing, working as an Internet Marketing Consultant and running these businesses - I have learned a great deal about the way customers purchase online, discovering exactly what is needed in order to build a strong, profitable, customer-focused brand. I have come a very long way in my many years of working on the Internet, and now I’d like to share some of my success with you!

This helpful blog will be a compilation of my valuable insights. It will be a comprehensive guide filled with solid online marketing information, that I have acquired from years of experience (as well as the countless marketing books that I have pored through over many hundreds of hours!). Think of this blog as a concentrated, jam-packed resource that will soon contain all of the keys needed for you to see your business grow into a thriving, customer-focused company. Read it, put it into practice, bookmark it, and refer to it often - as you continue to grow and strengthen your very own successful online business!